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Voyage dans la Lune
Sous le couvert d'un conte, Cyrano de Bergerac, féroce pamphlétaire, critique avec provocation les institutions et les valeurs de son temps. Le narrateur se rend dans la lune où il découvre un monde qui ne cesse de l'étonner. À travers les observations du voyageur, Bergerac dénonce les faiblesses et les défauts de la société du XVIIIe siècle.
190 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1657
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About the author
Cyrano de Bergerac
131 books44 followersSavinien Cyrano de Bergerac, French satirist, and dramatist whose works combining political satire and science-fantasy inspired a number of later writers. He has been the basis of many romantic but unhistorical legends, of which the best known is Edmond Rostand’s play Cyrano de Bergerac (1897), in which he is portrayed as a gallant and brilliant but shy and ugly lover, possessed (as in fact he was) of a remarkably large nose.
As a young man, Cyrano joined the company of guards and was wounded at the Siege of Arras in 1640. But he gave up his military career in the following year to study under the philosopher and mathematician Pierre Gassendi. Under the influence of Gassendi’s scientific theories and libertine philosophy, Cyrano wrote his two best known works, Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune and Histoire comique des états et empires du soleil (Eng. trans. A Voyage to the moon: with some account of the Solar World, 1754). These stories of imaginary journeys to the Moon and Sun, published posthumously in 1656 and 1662, satirize 17th-century religious and astronomical beliefs, which saw man and the world as the centre of creation.
As a young man, Cyrano joined the company of guards and was wounded at the Siege of Arras in 1640. But he gave up his military career in the following year to study under the philosopher and mathematician Pierre Gassendi. Under the influence of Gassendi’s scientific theories and libertine philosophy, Cyrano wrote his two best known works, Histoire comique des états et empires de la lune and Histoire comique des états et empires du soleil (Eng. trans. A Voyage to the moon: with some account of the Solar World, 1754). These stories of imaginary journeys to the Moon and Sun, published posthumously in 1656 and 1662, satirize 17th-century religious and astronomical beliefs, which saw man and the world as the centre of creation.
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October 21, 2016
Cyrano de Bergerac was a real person. He wrote poetry, plays, and books, as well as being the inspiration for Edmond Rostand's best known work, the play titled Cyrano de Bergerac.
In the fascinating introduction to A Voyage To The Moon, we learn more about Cyrano: he did serve in the Guards (an elite unit of noble young men of his day) and he was not a Gascon by birth, but by the force of his personality. His feud with the actor Montfleury was real, and so was Bergerac's infamous nose.
It appears in all the portraits, of which there are four. And in all of these it is the same: not a little ugly nose, flat at the top and projecting at the bottom in a little long gable turned up at the end; but a large, generous, well-shaped nose, hooked rather than retroussé, and planted squarely in the symmetrical middle of the face; not ridiculous, but monumental!
Cyrano himself describes it in a play that I would love to be able to read, since according to the author of the introduction, Cyrano was responsible for introducing to the stage the comical peasant which Moliere later relied upon in his own works. But back to The Nose. Here is what Cyrano says about it in his play Le Pedant Joue: Comedy:
"This veridic nose arrives everywhere a quarter of an hour before its master. Ten shoemakers, good round fat ones too, go and sit down to work under it out of the rain."
Of course he was the only person ever allowed to say anything about The Nose. Many duels were fought over it, and more than ten men were killed because of it. So this passage from Chapter 15 of A Voyage To The Moon is obviously Cyrano's way of thumbing that Nose at the world. [Cyrano had gone out for a walk and returned late for dinner, and explained to his hosts that no one told him the 'a clock' when he asked, they merely made strange faces at him. Then he learns how to tell time on the Moon.]
"How," cried all the Company, "did not you know by that, that they shewed you what it was a Clock?" "Faith," said I, "they might have held their great Noses in the Sun long enough, before I had understood what they meant." "It's a Commodity," said they, "that saves them the Trouble of a Watch; for with their Teeth they make so true a Dial, that when they would tell any Body the Hour of the day, they do no more but open their Lips, and the shadow of that Nose, falling upon their Teeth, like the Gnomon of a Sun-Dial, makes the precise time.
"Now that you may know the reason, why all People in this Country have great Noses; as soon as a Woman is brought to Bed the Midwife carries the Child to the Master of the Seminary; and exactly at the years end, the Skillful being assembled, if his Nose prove shorter than the standing Measure, which an Alderman keeps, he is judged to be a Flat Nose, and delivered over to be gelt. You'll ask me, no doubt, the Reason of that Barbarous Custom, and how it comes to pass that we, amongst whom Virginity is a Crime, should enjoyn Continence by force; but know that we do so, because after Thirty Ages experience we have observed, that a great Nose is the mark of a Witty, Courteous,
Affable, Generous and Liberal Man; and that a little Nose is a Sign of the contrary: Wherefore of Flat Noses we make Eunuchs, because the Republick had rather have no Children at all than Children like them."
Well, enough about the man's nose, what about the book he wrote, right? Okay. This was great fun for me to read, especially considering that during Cyrano's day the debate was still raging about whether the Earth revolved around the sun or vice versa. Imagine letting your imagination fly to the moon in those days. How would you get there and what would you find when you landed? Books with covers made of mother of pearl, and operated with a little key that you wound up long enough for the book to play you a chapter! Towns that move according to the seasons of the year by using wheels and giant bellows built into the walls of the palaces, so that when activated they sail along like a ship at sea! Other towers that are furnished with giant screws that will twist them down into the ground during bad storms! The true reason that all good cooks are fat, even though they never seem to sit down and eat: they get their nourishment from the steam coming out of their cooking pots! Beds that are nothing more than layers of flowers three feet deep!
Cyrano's voyage gave him the chance to discuss philosophy, politics and the origins of Man with the people of the Moon, which of course meant he was able to share his own ideas on those topics. Sometimes I got a bit lost during these discussions, but mostly I could follow along without too many 'What Did He Say?!' moments. I thought the book was ingeniously clever. I was absolutely delighted with all of it, and wish once again that I could have met and talked with Cyrano de Bergerac. I very greatly doubt I could have kept up with his wit in person, but it would have been such fun to try!
In the fascinating introduction to A Voyage To The Moon, we learn more about Cyrano: he did serve in the Guards (an elite unit of noble young men of his day) and he was not a Gascon by birth, but by the force of his personality. His feud with the actor Montfleury was real, and so was Bergerac's infamous nose.
It appears in all the portraits, of which there are four. And in all of these it is the same: not a little ugly nose, flat at the top and projecting at the bottom in a little long gable turned up at the end; but a large, generous, well-shaped nose, hooked rather than retroussé, and planted squarely in the symmetrical middle of the face; not ridiculous, but monumental!
Cyrano himself describes it in a play that I would love to be able to read, since according to the author of the introduction, Cyrano was responsible for introducing to the stage the comical peasant which Moliere later relied upon in his own works. But back to The Nose. Here is what Cyrano says about it in his play Le Pedant Joue: Comedy:
"This veridic nose arrives everywhere a quarter of an hour before its master. Ten shoemakers, good round fat ones too, go and sit down to work under it out of the rain."
Of course he was the only person ever allowed to say anything about The Nose. Many duels were fought over it, and more than ten men were killed because of it. So this passage from Chapter 15 of A Voyage To The Moon is obviously Cyrano's way of thumbing that Nose at the world. [Cyrano had gone out for a walk and returned late for dinner, and explained to his hosts that no one told him the 'a clock' when he asked, they merely made strange faces at him. Then he learns how to tell time on the Moon.]
"How," cried all the Company, "did not you know by that, that they shewed you what it was a Clock?" "Faith," said I, "they might have held their great Noses in the Sun long enough, before I had understood what they meant." "It's a Commodity," said they, "that saves them the Trouble of a Watch; for with their Teeth they make so true a Dial, that when they would tell any Body the Hour of the day, they do no more but open their Lips, and the shadow of that Nose, falling upon their Teeth, like the Gnomon of a Sun-Dial, makes the precise time.
"Now that you may know the reason, why all People in this Country have great Noses; as soon as a Woman is brought to Bed the Midwife carries the Child to the Master of the Seminary; and exactly at the years end, the Skillful being assembled, if his Nose prove shorter than the standing Measure, which an Alderman keeps, he is judged to be a Flat Nose, and delivered over to be gelt. You'll ask me, no doubt, the Reason of that Barbarous Custom, and how it comes to pass that we, amongst whom Virginity is a Crime, should enjoyn Continence by force; but know that we do so, because after Thirty Ages experience we have observed, that a great Nose is the mark of a Witty, Courteous,
Affable, Generous and Liberal Man; and that a little Nose is a Sign of the contrary: Wherefore of Flat Noses we make Eunuchs, because the Republick had rather have no Children at all than Children like them."
Well, enough about the man's nose, what about the book he wrote, right? Okay. This was great fun for me to read, especially considering that during Cyrano's day the debate was still raging about whether the Earth revolved around the sun or vice versa. Imagine letting your imagination fly to the moon in those days. How would you get there and what would you find when you landed? Books with covers made of mother of pearl, and operated with a little key that you wound up long enough for the book to play you a chapter! Towns that move according to the seasons of the year by using wheels and giant bellows built into the walls of the palaces, so that when activated they sail along like a ship at sea! Other towers that are furnished with giant screws that will twist them down into the ground during bad storms! The true reason that all good cooks are fat, even though they never seem to sit down and eat: they get their nourishment from the steam coming out of their cooking pots! Beds that are nothing more than layers of flowers three feet deep!
Cyrano's voyage gave him the chance to discuss philosophy, politics and the origins of Man with the people of the Moon, which of course meant he was able to share his own ideas on those topics. Sometimes I got a bit lost during these discussions, but mostly I could follow along without too many 'What Did He Say?!' moments. I thought the book was ingeniously clever. I was absolutely delighted with all of it, and wish once again that I could have met and talked with Cyrano de Bergerac. I very greatly doubt I could have kept up with his wit in person, but it would have been such fun to try!
October 20, 2016
"Ο άνθρωπος είναι ανώτερο από τα άλλα ζώα γιατί διαθέτει πνεύμα" και "Ο άνθρωπος είναι το μόνο σκεπτόμενο ον στο σύμπαν". Κάτι τέτοιες απόψεις άκουγε ο Συρανό ντε Μπερζεράκ και γελούσε ειρωνικά. Αν όλοι οι άνθρωποι διάβαζαν αυτό το βιβλίο θα καταλάβαιναν ότι είναι μάταιο να αντιληφθείς τον κόσμο αλλά και την έννοια του Θεού με την ανθρώπινη λογική. Αν όλοι οι άνθρωποι διάβαζαν αυτό το βιβλίο δε θα θεωρούσαν τους εαυτούς τους ανώτερους. Είναι ένα must-read για να καταλάβει κάποια στιγμή ο άνθρωπος ότι το καλάμι είναι μόνο για το ψάρεμα κι όχι για καβάλημα!!
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July 10, 2025"The ignorant man who thinks he's smart only because he has a diploma has to answer me."
This is a remarkable book that is very clever, entertaining, and thought provoking. Elsewhere, I have referred to it as "wise and foolish in equal measure, and thus great fun." It may be difficult to discern from the book just what the author may have actually thought, and I'm sure that is intentional. At times he's having us on. At other times, he's presenting some pretty radical ideas and reflections which may have been a bit too controversial for him to "own," so he has ridiculous moon-atheists proclaim these ideas while his own character is befuddled, and sometimes offers rather lame, ineffectual objections.
The book's ending is rather abrupt, yet I don't know whether the continuation in the sequel "The States and Empires of the Sun" makes up for this minor defect.
Perhaps many readers are unaware of the fact that such a man as Cyrano actually existed. He's best known, certainly, through the fictional portrayal of his character in Rostand's play. But it's very exciting to experience the language and thoughts of the real Cyrano, a poet and playwright with panache who was an accomplished duelist and soldier, who had a big nose, and who wrote fantasies about magical travels to the moon. It was interesting to see how Rostand drew not just from some of the details of Cyrano's life, but also from his writing, to arrive at the idea of using poetry as a form of currency to pay bakers for the cakes we eat, and the detailed description of several fantastic methods of space travel.
Speaking of influence, Italo Calvino surely acknowledged his debt to Cyrano, but I didn't realize just how close a part of this book came to what Calvino later developed in his story "The Distance of the Moon."
While some of Cyrano's philosophical ramblings may seem laughable, in other ways he seems way ahead of his times. While reading, I noted once or twice "wrong, but right in principle." E.g., he comes from ideas relating to the four basic elements of classical times, but he tries to argue that matter is essentially one substance. He then goes on to describe different shaped particles with their own qualities. He's not right in specifics, yet he forecasts atomic theory in some sense, his differently shaped particles aren't radically unlike the notion of atoms defined by their differing numbers of protons and the resultant properties, and he presents concepts such as that the matter we view macroscopically is mostly void, with tiny particles at a relatively great distance to one another.
Among other things he seems to get right, though they weren't yet established scientific beliefs, were a heliocentric universe, and the placebo effect--which he theorizes as a rational explanation for "faith healing" denying such a miracle, and he presents this a century before the placebo effect is "first" investigated by John Haygarth. He also proposes something similar to "Pascal's wager" as an argument for religious faith (it's better to believe in a non-existent God than to disbelieve an existent one), yet he may be making a mockery of it here, and he's doing so decades before Pascal proposes it in his Pensees.
Cyrano writes some perfectly silly stuff. I thought it entertaining how his character, a mostly calm and rational type, was prone to the occasional irrational outburst, which created quite a bit of trouble for him, including having religiously offended the prophet Elijah and thus missing his opportunity for a free taste of an apple from the tree of knowledge (though he steals one, it is contaminated by a poison skin that causes forgetfulness and confusion).
Anyway, he may be a perfectly patient and attentive student on some days, but at table he might rudely burst out with "Where the hell is that soup!?"
Among the persuasive arguments that Cyrano cleverly disavows by putting it into the mouth of another is the argument against honoring elders and parents. Surely, it's fine to respect our parents if they are wise, but otherwise: "trample with rage on the belly of the father who begat you and the breast of the mother who conceived you; do you imagine that the cowardly respect that vicious parents have ripped from your weakness is so pleasing to Heaven that it will thereby lengthen your years? I don't think so."
Unlike other wits, in the years gone and the years to come, Cyrano singles out some individuals in the real world to praise, but in expressing condemnation he avoids naming names. This doesn't seem to proceed from any particular fear, but seems gentlemanly in character. E.g. "I also met a number of other people that your world treats as divines but found in them nothing but a lot of babble and pride." There is no need to call out his specific literary or political rivals for this pronouncement to hold weight. I think we can all relate.
There's so much magical fun and goofiness in this rather short book, I don't want to spoil all of it, while I have notes on so much of it. Maybe, just as a teaser, I'll put in one little quote sans-context, and leave the rest for the book to say on its own:
"You destroy the cabbage's soul when you kill it, but in killing a man you simply give him a change of address."
This is a remarkable book that is very clever, entertaining, and thought provoking. Elsewhere, I have referred to it as "wise and foolish in equal measure, and thus great fun." It may be difficult to discern from the book just what the author may have actually thought, and I'm sure that is intentional. At times he's having us on. At other times, he's presenting some pretty radical ideas and reflections which may have been a bit too controversial for him to "own," so he has ridiculous moon-atheists proclaim these ideas while his own character is befuddled, and sometimes offers rather lame, ineffectual objections.
The book's ending is rather abrupt, yet I don't know whether the continuation in the sequel "The States and Empires of the Sun" makes up for this minor defect.
Perhaps many readers are unaware of the fact that such a man as Cyrano actually existed. He's best known, certainly, through the fictional portrayal of his character in Rostand's play. But it's very exciting to experience the language and thoughts of the real Cyrano, a poet and playwright with panache who was an accomplished duelist and soldier, who had a big nose, and who wrote fantasies about magical travels to the moon. It was interesting to see how Rostand drew not just from some of the details of Cyrano's life, but also from his writing, to arrive at the idea of using poetry as a form of currency to pay bakers for the cakes we eat, and the detailed description of several fantastic methods of space travel.
Speaking of influence, Italo Calvino surely acknowledged his debt to Cyrano, but I didn't realize just how close a part of this book came to what Calvino later developed in his story "The Distance of the Moon."
While some of Cyrano's philosophical ramblings may seem laughable, in other ways he seems way ahead of his times. While reading, I noted once or twice "wrong, but right in principle." E.g., he comes from ideas relating to the four basic elements of classical times, but he tries to argue that matter is essentially one substance. He then goes on to describe different shaped particles with their own qualities. He's not right in specifics, yet he forecasts atomic theory in some sense, his differently shaped particles aren't radically unlike the notion of atoms defined by their differing numbers of protons and the resultant properties, and he presents concepts such as that the matter we view macroscopically is mostly void, with tiny particles at a relatively great distance to one another.
Among other things he seems to get right, though they weren't yet established scientific beliefs, were a heliocentric universe, and the placebo effect--which he theorizes as a rational explanation for "faith healing" denying such a miracle, and he presents this a century before the placebo effect is "first" investigated by John Haygarth. He also proposes something similar to "Pascal's wager" as an argument for religious faith (it's better to believe in a non-existent God than to disbelieve an existent one), yet he may be making a mockery of it here, and he's doing so decades before Pascal proposes it in his Pensees.
Cyrano writes some perfectly silly stuff. I thought it entertaining how his character, a mostly calm and rational type, was prone to the occasional irrational outburst, which created quite a bit of trouble for him, including having religiously offended the prophet Elijah and thus missing his opportunity for a free taste of an apple from the tree of knowledge (though he steals one, it is contaminated by a poison skin that causes forgetfulness and confusion).
Anyway, he may be a perfectly patient and attentive student on some days, but at table he might rudely burst out with "Where the hell is that soup!?"
Among the persuasive arguments that Cyrano cleverly disavows by putting it into the mouth of another is the argument against honoring elders and parents. Surely, it's fine to respect our parents if they are wise, but otherwise: "trample with rage on the belly of the father who begat you and the breast of the mother who conceived you; do you imagine that the cowardly respect that vicious parents have ripped from your weakness is so pleasing to Heaven that it will thereby lengthen your years? I don't think so."
Unlike other wits, in the years gone and the years to come, Cyrano singles out some individuals in the real world to praise, but in expressing condemnation he avoids naming names. This doesn't seem to proceed from any particular fear, but seems gentlemanly in character. E.g. "I also met a number of other people that your world treats as divines but found in them nothing but a lot of babble and pride." There is no need to call out his specific literary or political rivals for this pronouncement to hold weight. I think we can all relate.
There's so much magical fun and goofiness in this rather short book, I don't want to spoil all of it, while I have notes on so much of it. Maybe, just as a teaser, I'll put in one little quote sans-context, and leave the rest for the book to say on its own:
"You destroy the cabbage's soul when you kill it, but in killing a man you simply give him a change of address."
May 5, 2021
Cyrano era un espadachín, dramaturgo francés y libertino. Era irrespetuoso con la iglesia y en este libro lo demuestra (algo suave). Por su prosa uno puede darse cuenta, de que era un hombre muy inteligente.
La historia tiene algunos momentos en los cuales se pone muy denso, pero en general es entretenido. Mi parte favorita es cuando lo juzgan las aves. Tiene muchas referencias a otros libros (eso es genial, punto a favor 🤩), y muchas referencias a filósofos, personajes de la antigüedad, dioses, etc.
La historia comienza con una juerga entre amigos, el prota viaja a la luna (si toma esta 🤺 J.V) y de ahí lo lleva a muchas aventuras, hay una clara referencia a la evolución. Los humanos, no podemos venir del mono. (Toma esta C.D), pero tendrán que llegar a esa parte, para averiguarlo.
La historia tiene algunos momentos en los cuales se pone muy denso, pero en general es entretenido. Mi parte favorita es cuando lo juzgan las aves. Tiene muchas referencias a otros libros (eso es genial, punto a favor 🤩), y muchas referencias a filósofos, personajes de la antigüedad, dioses, etc.
La historia comienza con una juerga entre amigos, el prota viaja a la luna (si toma esta 🤺 J.V) y de ahí lo lleva a muchas aventuras, hay una clara referencia a la evolución. Los humanos, no podemos venir del mono. (Toma esta C.D), pero tendrán que llegar a esa parte, para averiguarlo.
March 11, 2019
Wildly heretical.
Published posthumously, and probably for the best considering the content. Even with the liberalediting deletions by his friend prior to press. But remember that Gallileo was forced to recant his theories in 1633 and Voyage to the Moon was published 24 years laters, two years after De Bergerac's death. Clearly written earlier and it is a forceful pro-testa, for the thesis and for science. Predating Swift's Gulliver's Travels yet I couldn't help but think what a wonderful comparison read.
A forerunner of science fiction and rather scathing rebukes. Clearly somethings aren't as we understand them, now, but some are prescient.
The flying travel box gives off Dr. Who vibes
De Bergerac clearly has some thoughts about Man as 'given dominion'.
Perhaps the most well-known aspect of Cyrano De Bergerac is his nose as made famous in the play by Rostan. While it is exaggerated, his nose was quite prodigious. I love this bit about noses included amongst the sociological discussions of the Moon World.
NOTE: This is book is widely available for free, LEGALLY. So if you are interested, look around and Gutenberg.org is always a good resource for some older works if not available otherwise.
Published posthumously, and probably for the best considering the content. Even with the liberal
A forerunner of science fiction and rather scathing rebukes. Clearly somethings aren't as we understand them, now, but some are prescient.
As I opened the Box, I found within somewhat of Metal, almost like to our Clocks, full of I know not what little Springs and imperceptible Engines: It was a Book, indeed; but a Strange and Wonderful Book, that had neither Leaves nor Letters: In fine, it was a Book made wholly for the Ears, and not the Eyes. So that when any Body has a mind to read in it, he winds up that Machine with a great many Strings; then he turns the Hand to the Chapter which he desires to hear, and straight, as from the Mouth of a Man, or a Musical Instrument, proceed all the distinct and different Sounds,[3] which theLunar Grandees make use of for expressing their Thoughts, instead of Language.
The flying travel box gives off Dr. Who vibes
De Bergerac clearly has some thoughts about Man as 'given dominion'.
Moses, the greatest of Philosophers, who drew the Knowledge of Nature from the Fountain-Head, Nature her self, hinted this truth to us when he spoke of the Tree of Knowledge; and without doubt he intended to intimate to us under that Figure, that Plants, in Exclusion to Mankind, possess perfect Philosophy. Remember, then, O thou Proudest of Animals! that though a Cabbage which thou cuttest sayeth not a Word, yet it pays it at Thinking; but the poor Vegetable has no fit Organs to howl as you do, nor yet to frisk it about, and weep: Yet, it hath those that are proper to complain of the Wrong you do it, and to draw a Judgement from Heaven upon you for the Injustice.
Perhaps the most well-known aspect of Cyrano De Bergerac is his nose as made famous in the play by Rostan. While it is exaggerated, his nose was quite prodigious. I love this bit about noses included amongst the sociological discussions of the Moon World.
"[B]ecause after Thirty Ages experience we have observed, that a great Nose is the mark of a Witty, Courteous, Affable, Generous and Liberal Man; and that a little Nose is a Sign of the contrary: Wherefore of Flat Noses we make Eunuchs, because the Republick had rather have no Children at all than Children like them."
NOTE: This is book is widely available for free, LEGALLY. So if you are interested, look around and Gutenberg.org is always a good resource for some older works if not available otherwise.
September 29, 2023
Tell me why some people get to present Lolita and I get him
March 3, 2011
So... science fiction written before The Enlightenment; isn't that an oxymoron?
A Voyage to the Moon belongs on a shelf with Gulliver's Travels, Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Candide, but I suspect you'll have trouble finding the book in English, which is a shame. Fortunately Google Books has an electronic late seventeenth-century translation that comes with some great illustrations. This is the edition that I have read. It sometimes takes a little work to tease out the meaning (or the punchline!) from these old, roundabout sentences, but it is definitely worth it, and a far cry from the difficulty of deciphering, say, Shakespeare or Milton.
Cyrano, our narrator of the famous nose, contrives a plan to visit The Moon without rockets, cannons, or a vehicle of any kind; instead, he reasons that if The Sun would pull up the dew from the grass, then he need only carry a bunch of bottles full of dew, and The Sun would pull him to The Moon! This first plan backfires for Cyrano and he ends up landing in New France (Canada), but after several other deranged attempts he is set upon his way, where he goes on to explore The Moon throughout the rest of the book.
Scientific discussions are most interesting when they are logical, convincing, and lead to conclusions that are not only incorrect but utterly absurd. Who's to say that in the 21st century, we are not guilty of the same thing? Once Cyrano has reached The Moon, this book basically becomes a series of such discussions, but I don't see this as a disappointment; what it lacks in traditional SF tropes it makes up for with clever, witty, and often bewildering arguments that shows us how alien The Moon's inhabitants are. (for instance their speech is similar to music, so that whenever Cyrano introduces a member of The Moon's royalty, their name is transcribed as a little staff with several notes on it) Coupled with all this is the fact that Cyrano was writing nearly four hundred years ago, which leads us to wonder whether he might even believe some of this stuff?
In any case, if you are interested in the history of science or science fiction, or just want to bask in some French Renaissance lunacy, then this one might be worth picking up.
A Voyage to the Moon belongs on a shelf with Gulliver's Travels, Gargantua and Pantagruel, and Candide, but I suspect you'll have trouble finding the book in English, which is a shame. Fortunately Google Books has an electronic late seventeenth-century translation that comes with some great illustrations. This is the edition that I have read. It sometimes takes a little work to tease out the meaning (or the punchline!) from these old, roundabout sentences, but it is definitely worth it, and a far cry from the difficulty of deciphering, say, Shakespeare or Milton.
Cyrano, our narrator of the famous nose, contrives a plan to visit The Moon without rockets, cannons, or a vehicle of any kind; instead, he reasons that if The Sun would pull up the dew from the grass, then he need only carry a bunch of bottles full of dew, and The Sun would pull him to The Moon! This first plan backfires for Cyrano and he ends up landing in New France (Canada), but after several other deranged attempts he is set upon his way, where he goes on to explore The Moon throughout the rest of the book.
Scientific discussions are most interesting when they are logical, convincing, and lead to conclusions that are not only incorrect but utterly absurd. Who's to say that in the 21st century, we are not guilty of the same thing? Once Cyrano has reached The Moon, this book basically becomes a series of such discussions, but I don't see this as a disappointment; what it lacks in traditional SF tropes it makes up for with clever, witty, and often bewildering arguments that shows us how alien The Moon's inhabitants are. (for instance their speech is similar to music, so that whenever Cyrano introduces a member of The Moon's royalty, their name is transcribed as a little staff with several notes on it) Coupled with all this is the fact that Cyrano was writing nearly four hundred years ago, which leads us to wonder whether he might even believe some of this stuff?
In any case, if you are interested in the history of science or science fiction, or just want to bask in some French Renaissance lunacy, then this one might be worth picking up.
February 25, 2022
A bold explorer travels into realms unknown, meets strange people and nations that reflect oddly and hilariously his own society... much the same as Gulliver's Travels, then, but this one didn't grab me nearly as well. The satire here doesn't seem to have anything in common with the modern day anymore, and more often than not it just came across as weird and random to me and I had no idea what the author was trying to convey with it. I don't know what France was like back in the day, and from this, I still don't know.
It was a quick read, at least. Not just short, but breezy - written in such a way that I could eat up all of it more or less in one sitting without feeling too full.
It was a quick read, at least. Not just short, but breezy - written in such a way that I could eat up all of it more or less in one sitting without feeling too full.
September 5, 2011
I’m fascinated by very very early science fiction novels and one of the most important of these pioneering works is Cyrano de Bergerac’s Journey to the Moon (or to give it its proper title L'Autre Monde: où les États et Empires de la Lune (The Other World: The States and Empires of the Moon). It was published posthumously in 1657.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655) was an interesting figure in his own right. He was a successful playwright and a notorious duellist. He is said to have fought at least 1,000 duels. And yes, he really did have a very large nose and this was the cause of many of his duels. He was also a homosexual and a religious sceptic who was accused of atheism.
And to add to all that he was something of an amateur philosopher and scientific thinker.
Like most of the early “fantastic voyage” science fiction tales the intention behind Journey to the Moon was largely satirical. What makes this work really interesting though is that this was by no means Cyrano’s only intention. The book is like a blend of whimsical fantasy, satire and hard science fiction.
Or at least the 17th century version of hard science fiction. Cyrano’s scientific speculations are an intriguing mix of the medieval and the modern. In this context it’s worth remembering that Cyrano was writing several decades before Newton put physics on a firm scientific basis. While Cyrano has no notion that a lack of breathable air might be an obstacle to a lunar voyage he is aware that the earth’s gravitational field is more powerful than that of the Moon.
There’s also some interesting speculation on the nature of reason and on the differences between humans and animals. At times Cyrano almost seems to be moving towards some kind of theory of parallel and divergent evolutionary pathways.
As for the plot itself, this is where the whimsy comes in. Dew is certainly an original idea for a fuel for interplanetary travel! The hero uses this means to reach the Moon, where he finds that the inhabitants of our satellite regard the Earth as their moon. They also have some odd customs and ideas on social organisation. They believe in paying respect to youth rather than age. They find it strange when Cyrano tells them that the inhabitants of Earth wear swords as a symbol of honour - on the Moon they regard phalluses in the way 17th century Europeans regarded swords.
It’s a very short book and while it’s thin on plot and long on philosophical speculation Cyrano’s speculations are generally entertaining. And it’s a fascinating attempt to imagine a society based on fundamentally different beliefs.
If you’re interested in the history of science fiction it’s essential reading.
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655) was an interesting figure in his own right. He was a successful playwright and a notorious duellist. He is said to have fought at least 1,000 duels. And yes, he really did have a very large nose and this was the cause of many of his duels. He was also a homosexual and a religious sceptic who was accused of atheism.
And to add to all that he was something of an amateur philosopher and scientific thinker.
Like most of the early “fantastic voyage” science fiction tales the intention behind Journey to the Moon was largely satirical. What makes this work really interesting though is that this was by no means Cyrano’s only intention. The book is like a blend of whimsical fantasy, satire and hard science fiction.
Or at least the 17th century version of hard science fiction. Cyrano’s scientific speculations are an intriguing mix of the medieval and the modern. In this context it’s worth remembering that Cyrano was writing several decades before Newton put physics on a firm scientific basis. While Cyrano has no notion that a lack of breathable air might be an obstacle to a lunar voyage he is aware that the earth’s gravitational field is more powerful than that of the Moon.
There’s also some interesting speculation on the nature of reason and on the differences between humans and animals. At times Cyrano almost seems to be moving towards some kind of theory of parallel and divergent evolutionary pathways.
As for the plot itself, this is where the whimsy comes in. Dew is certainly an original idea for a fuel for interplanetary travel! The hero uses this means to reach the Moon, where he finds that the inhabitants of our satellite regard the Earth as their moon. They also have some odd customs and ideas on social organisation. They believe in paying respect to youth rather than age. They find it strange when Cyrano tells them that the inhabitants of Earth wear swords as a symbol of honour - on the Moon they regard phalluses in the way 17th century Europeans regarded swords.
It’s a very short book and while it’s thin on plot and long on philosophical speculation Cyrano’s speculations are generally entertaining. And it’s a fascinating attempt to imagine a society based on fundamentally different beliefs.
If you’re interested in the history of science fiction it’s essential reading.
October 30, 2016
Cyrano de Bergerac, Samsatlı Lukianos'un öncülüğünü yaptığı fantastik yolculuk temalı bu kitabıyla, bilim-kurgunun ilk örneklerinden birini 17. yy'da ortaya koymuş. Aslında bu küçük kitapta birçok türün kesişimini görüyoruz: Teoloji, kuşkuculuk ve Rönesans okültizmini sentezleyen bir felsefi roman sayılabilir; diğer yandan, Ay'daki yaşam hem tuhaf ve hayali yönleri, hem de rasyonel yönleri olan masalsı bir yarı-ütopya olarak betimlenmiş; dünyadaki uygarlığın eleştirildiği belli kısımlarda ise, metin bir yergiye dönüşüyor. Sadece yazıldığı zamana göre değil, günümüz için bile ilginç bir anlatı olmakla birlikte, biraz dağınık ilerlediğini, felsefi diyalogların bazılarını biraz uzun bulduğumu belirtmeliyim. Aslında, felsefeden çok hayal gücü içeriyor; o diyalogları da belki edebiyat gözüyle okumak gerekiyor.
July 11, 2023
Cyrano really said fuck you the moon people like my nose actually
October 25, 2023
the introduction most frames this as an early example of sci fi, which is kind of accurate i suppose, but the parts where guys pontificate directly at the reader about how atoms work are much less interesting than the playful satire of the lunar society and the humorous theological speculation. possibly the funniest thing in the book is when a guy questions why it's acceptable to eat cabbage when a cabbage was created by god just like man, and he then goes on to ask how we know that man was created in the image of god rather than the cabbage. also quite funny is the revelation that after the garden of eden, the serpent was condemned to be trapped inside man's body, and that's where the bowels and penis come from. there are also some great methods of travel between the earth and the moon which should be considered by nasa, such as tying fireworks to a wooden construction, a metal sled that is attracted by a magnetic sphere thrown into the air, and a large black man, possibly the devil, who picks people up and simply flies them back to earth(this happens at the end of the book and is not explained or elaborated on at all)
Read
October 15, 2022Divertit
Entre literatura bíblica, les coses passen molt ràpid, i xapes de diàleg d Plató
Coses molt maques, coses molt interessants, divertides, o rollus.
MariKoneo d tant en tant.
Recomano
Entre literatura bíblica, les coses passen molt ràpid, i xapes de diàleg d Plató
Coses molt maques, coses molt interessants, divertides, o rollus.
MariKoneo d tant en tant.
Recomano
September 1, 2019
Αν και χαριτωμένο, ώρες-ώρες έδειχνε τη γηραλαιότητά του.
November 27, 2012
Lorsque je suis tombé sur ce bouquin, par hasard, dans une librairie d’occasion, j’ai d’abord cru qu’il s’agissait d’une édition particulièrement volumineuse de la pièce de Rostand. En y regardant de plus près, j’ai vu que le titre était plutôt L’autre monde ou les États et empires de la lune et du soleil et je me demandais alors ce que le nom de Cyrano de Bergerac pouvait bien venir faire là jusqu’à ce que je réalise qu’il en était tout simplement l’auteur. Hé oui! Cyrano de Bergerac, ce personnage emblématique du théâtre et du cinéma français fut d’abord un personnage historique qui, entre autre, écrivait.
Ce Cyrano réel, abordons la question sans plus attendre, avait effectivement un grand nez (il en existe toujours quelques portraits) et aimait s’en moquer tout en se montrant très susceptible à ce sujet. Dans son Voyage sur la lune, tous les lunaires ont d’ailleurs le nez long, et Cyrano s’en fait ainsi expliquer la raison par l’un deux :
« Maintenant, afin que vous sachiez pourquoi en ce pays tout le monde a le nez grand, apprenez qu’aussitôt que la femme est accouchée, la matrone porte l’enfant au Prieur du Séminaire; et justement au bout de l’an les experts étant assemblés, si son nez est trouvé plus court qu’à une certaine mesure que tient le Syndic, il est censé camus, et mis entre les mains des gens qui le châtrent. Vous me demanderez la cause de cette barbarie, et comme il se peut faire que nous chez qui la virginité est un crime, établissons des continences par force? Mais sachez que nous le faisons après avoir observé depuis trente siècles qu’un grand nez est le signe d’un homme spirituel, courtois, affable, généreux, libéral, et que le petit est un signe du contraire. » (Voyage sur la lune, 119)
C’est donc en glissant son regard par-dessus son grand nez que le vrai Cyrano, homme sans aucun doute spirituel, courtois, affable, généreux et libéral, a écrit, outre ses récits de voyages astraux, des lettres, des poèmes et une pièce de théâtre.
Son écriture est vraiment particulière. Elle est très vive et nerveuse. On y passe de réflexions philosophiques inspirés de Gassendi et Descartes, à des descriptions d’inventions technologiques souvent très ingénieuses (d’une « fusée » lunaire et d’un « walk-man » notamment), à des conversations fantaisistes avec le démon de Socrate, des oiseaux, etc., à des récits d’aventure de vols, rencontres et même d’évasions. Ses récits de voyages sur la lune et le soleil sont parfaitement ridicules au premier abord, mais contiennent tellement de formules ingénieuses et amusantes, tellement d’inventions mécaniques et de réflexions philosophiques que même le plus récalcitrant à cette lecture se laissera gagner.
Le Cyrano historique, serait aussi, comme le rapporte Rostand, bel et bien mort des suites d’une pièce de bois qui lui est tombé sur la tête, et il aurait aussi effectivement tenu tête à cent hommes à la porte de Nesle. On ne lui connaît pas, non plus, malheureusement pour lui, de succès amoureux.
Vraiment, nez compris, le vrai Cyrano ne fait pas piètre figure si on le compare au personnage de théâtre auquel son destin l’a fait aboutir.
PS Je réalise que l'édition plus ancienne que j'ai trouvée d'occasion comprend, en plus du voyage sur la lune (qu'on retrouve dans toutes les éditions plus récentes), celui que Cyrano a ensuite fait sur le soleil et qui est généralement laissé de côté. Un ajout pourtant important si on désire connaître la manière dont les philosophes vivent dans les étoiles ou encore la perception des oiseaux sur l'humanité...
Ce Cyrano réel, abordons la question sans plus attendre, avait effectivement un grand nez (il en existe toujours quelques portraits) et aimait s’en moquer tout en se montrant très susceptible à ce sujet. Dans son Voyage sur la lune, tous les lunaires ont d’ailleurs le nez long, et Cyrano s’en fait ainsi expliquer la raison par l’un deux :
« Maintenant, afin que vous sachiez pourquoi en ce pays tout le monde a le nez grand, apprenez qu’aussitôt que la femme est accouchée, la matrone porte l’enfant au Prieur du Séminaire; et justement au bout de l’an les experts étant assemblés, si son nez est trouvé plus court qu’à une certaine mesure que tient le Syndic, il est censé camus, et mis entre les mains des gens qui le châtrent. Vous me demanderez la cause de cette barbarie, et comme il se peut faire que nous chez qui la virginité est un crime, établissons des continences par force? Mais sachez que nous le faisons après avoir observé depuis trente siècles qu’un grand nez est le signe d’un homme spirituel, courtois, affable, généreux, libéral, et que le petit est un signe du contraire. » (Voyage sur la lune, 119)
C’est donc en glissant son regard par-dessus son grand nez que le vrai Cyrano, homme sans aucun doute spirituel, courtois, affable, généreux et libéral, a écrit, outre ses récits de voyages astraux, des lettres, des poèmes et une pièce de théâtre.
Son écriture est vraiment particulière. Elle est très vive et nerveuse. On y passe de réflexions philosophiques inspirés de Gassendi et Descartes, à des descriptions d’inventions technologiques souvent très ingénieuses (d’une « fusée » lunaire et d’un « walk-man » notamment), à des conversations fantaisistes avec le démon de Socrate, des oiseaux, etc., à des récits d’aventure de vols, rencontres et même d’évasions. Ses récits de voyages sur la lune et le soleil sont parfaitement ridicules au premier abord, mais contiennent tellement de formules ingénieuses et amusantes, tellement d’inventions mécaniques et de réflexions philosophiques que même le plus récalcitrant à cette lecture se laissera gagner.
Le Cyrano historique, serait aussi, comme le rapporte Rostand, bel et bien mort des suites d’une pièce de bois qui lui est tombé sur la tête, et il aurait aussi effectivement tenu tête à cent hommes à la porte de Nesle. On ne lui connaît pas, non plus, malheureusement pour lui, de succès amoureux.
Vraiment, nez compris, le vrai Cyrano ne fait pas piètre figure si on le compare au personnage de théâtre auquel son destin l’a fait aboutir.
PS Je réalise que l'édition plus ancienne que j'ai trouvée d'occasion comprend, en plus du voyage sur la lune (qu'on retrouve dans toutes les éditions plus récentes), celui que Cyrano a ensuite fait sur le soleil et qui est généralement laissé de côté. Un ajout pourtant important si on désire connaître la manière dont les philosophes vivent dans les étoiles ou encore la perception des oiseaux sur l'humanité...
September 21, 2010
This book may be appealing to those interested in the history of ideas or studying Cyrano. However, most of it is dialogues and monologues on ideas that today are extremely dated. Discussions on in what way Aristotle's four elements compose all objects, whether the sinless state of cabbages means they deserve special treatment, and so forth. Perhaps, I've taken more clearly strange examples to get across the point, but little of it seems applicable to modern conditions and understanding.
The setting would justify calling this "proto-science fiction", but most of it is discussion rather than exploration (even in the sense of Gulliver's Travels). The translator does try to find parallels with science fiction (for instance, since it's argued on spiritual grounds cabbages must have high intellects, the translator thinks this is relevant to "first contact" issues.) I did not find such suggestions convincing, but apparently some people do.
The setting would justify calling this "proto-science fiction", but most of it is discussion rather than exploration (even in the sense of Gulliver's Travels). The translator does try to find parallels with science fiction (for instance, since it's argued on spiritual grounds cabbages must have high intellects, the translator thinks this is relevant to "first contact" issues.) I did not find such suggestions convincing, but apparently some people do.
January 1, 2017
A delightful read. Bergerac uses the conceit of travelling to another world populated by sentient, intelligent beings, whose ideas of life and living are different from those on earth. Thus the author can 'legitimately' present alternative world-views, and present philosophical arguments for and against different conceptions. The book then becomes a sort of time-capsule of the times in which Bergerac lived, using the rather primitive (to our eyes) scientific ideas of the time (although to be honest, doesn't every child at heart dream of having a space ship powered only by balloons?) yet can operate as a way of opening his readers' minds to the possibilities that there are alternative concepts of morality and customs than one's own.
April 26, 2016
Και μόνο το γεγονός ότι κυκλοφόρησε το 1657 και ανήκει στο είδος της επιστημονικής φαντασίας, λέει πολλά. Μιλάει για ένα ταξίδι στο φεγγάρι και την επαφή με τον "ντόπιο" πολιτισμό, που διαφέρει αρκετά απ'το ανθρώπινο είδος. Σε κάποια σημεία ήταν αρκετά διασκεδαστικό. Έχανα, όμως, την συγκέντρωση μου στις εκτεταμένες φιλοσοφικές συζητήσεις γιατί είχα στο νου μου ότι θα διαβάσω "φαντασία" και όχι φιλοσοφικές αναλύσεις και δυστυχώς το βιβλίο στο μεγαλύτερο κομμάτι του αποτελούνται από αυτές. Σε γενικές γραμμές πάντως δε μετανιώνω που το διάβασα μιας και υπήρξε ξεκάθαρα ένα πολύ προκλητικό και αιρετικό βιβλίο για την εποχή του.
July 31, 2017
I was hoping for an early sci-fi novel about planetory exploration - what I got was a novel about philosophy and religion and the debate about the existence of God and why man is man.
As it was written in the 17th century I can forgive the arguments being a bit old hat but the language was tedious and flowery. Perhaps it was the style of the time but it wasn't for me. I got bored and skimmed most of it.
As it was written in the 17th century I can forgive the arguments being a bit old hat but the language was tedious and flowery. Perhaps it was the style of the time but it wasn't for me. I got bored and skimmed most of it.
February 22, 2022
I was delighted to discover that Cyrano existed beyond his character in the play (Cyrano de Bergerac is a play written in 1897 by Edmond Rostand). This translation is a bit rough but manages to capture the mind bending nature of his fanciful journey to the moon and the philosophical satire he encounters there. I greatly appreciated that he predicted the need for audiobooks to exist so that one could enjoy processing the thoughts of a literary masterpiece while otherwise employed in some needful task.
May 30, 2022
outdated af
0 intrigue
0 intrigue
February 15, 2024
freakkyyyyy
February 8, 2023
So like would I read this for fun? No❤️. But also then I think about how this king could have been jailed for any number of the things he says here and I can’t help but say slay.
August 14, 2024
J’ai dévoré ce roman graphique, les illustrations sont belles et l’histoire nous transporte dans un monde imaginaire et fantastique qui ne peut que nous faire rêver.💫
July 17, 2025
je suis tellement fan de lui il est trop fort trop drôle trop intelligent mon bb 🌚✨💙
January 6, 2018
Three centuries and some change before the astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin rode a rocket to the Moon, the libertine poet Cyrano de Bergerac smeared himself with bone marrow and floated up to the Moon; the Moon, as everybody knows, attracts bone marrow. The Prophet Enoch, also there, tells us that got to the Moon by tying jars of smoke from animal sacrifices under his armpits, because sacrifices must rise to the heavens. Why is an Old Testament Prophet on the Moon? Because the Garden of Eden is there, of course. But after a few minutes in the Garden, Cyrano repeats a very old mistake and must leave, and so has to content himself with visiting the other countries of the Moon. His guide is the Daemon of Socrates, although he hasn't worked with just Socrates. The people of the Moon walk on all fours.
Before Apollo 13, before Star Trek, before H.G. Wells, there was Cyrano and his book, ostensibly a report from the author. His Voyage to the Moon, published in 1656, isn’t the first story on that theme (edged out by a mere 15 centuries by Lucian of Samosata’s A True History). And it’s far from the first fiction to treat fantastical, philosophical themes: Thomas More’s Utopia was almost century old when Cyrano was born, after all. But there was never quite a book like this, at least until Cyrano wrote one. His contribution to literature was to take a few ideas from current science and philosophy and write a fictional treatment about them. If a clockwork machine could produce sounds, why couldn’t we in theory build books that speak? This was quite literally science fiction, and wildly creative.
Although if Voyage to the Moon is science fiction, is science in the way that Cyrano would have understood it; that is, natural philosophy, that catch-all term for everything from astronomy to psychology and most of what we now just call philosophy, and a lot of magic besides. And quite a lot of early modern philosophy makes its way into Cyrano’s book: when our author is presented as an exotic animal in a Moon zoo, a delegation of Moon academics convenes to determine whether or not the hairless ape possesses self-awareness or is merely an automaton of senseless instinct. So we know that Cyrano read Descartes.
But this makes it sound like Cyrano is giving us a dry tour of What We Should Invent. Fortunately, this is a silly book, interesting not for its inventions but for its inventiveness. The Moon people are delightfully ridiculous, walking about on all fours and fretting over the souls of cabbages. They keep their houses on wheels so they can change the scenery, and attend their own funerals, which are joyous affairs. Here it helps to mention that Cyrano was a libertine; today, the word means little more than mindless hedonism, but in Cyrano’s time, it was anything but. Libertinism was about liberty: expanding all freedoms, not just for your genitals, but for your mind, too. They read Galileo (the first person to map the Moon, by the way). Much like the Epicureans a few millennia ago, the libertines were tarred with hedonism by their prudish rivals who, because it made better propaganda, focused more on the free love than the free thought. Although yes, on Cyrano’s Moon, virginity is illegal.
Not that this is pointless clowning. It is easy to forget, now that the battle is largely won and the Catholic Church has an astronomical observatory and a theological contingency plan for baptizing aliens, that there was a time when “free thought” wasn’t something Richard Dawkins used to harass Muslims; free thought, for the Powers That Be, was dangerous and suspicious, as history had shown; you let your guard down for a few minutes, and suddenly the northern half of Europe has left the Church, and they’re reading the Bible…in German! In light of this catastrophe, the response wasn’t restricted to atheists, vernacularists, or radical direct democracy advocates: the Catholic Church burned an Italian miller at the stake for propagating his theory that the universe is like a great wheel of cheese. Dear God! What books would he have written?!
Cyrano is for Menocchio’s party, not for the saliency of his views, but for the sheer fantasy of it. Clearly this was not a man bound by any orthodoxies. And Cyrano invents a fellow traveler to Menocchio in a Spaniard who lives on the Moon because, as he says: “The true reason which had obliged him to travel all over the Earth, and at length to abandon it for the Moon was that he could not find so much as one Country where even Imagination was at Liberty.” Certainly the Moon was one country where Cyrano might have published his book as he intended. Two endings exist for Voyage to the Moon: one that condemns the citizens of the Moon for arrogantly abandoning God; and one that praises “the People of that World, amongst whom even the meanest have Naturally so much Wit; whereas those of ours have so little, and yet so dearly bought.” Guess which version Cyrano had to circulate in his lifetime?
So you’ll see this book bandied about as a precursor to science fiction. And it is! But it wasn’t about any particular means of getting to the Moon—it was about inventing four routes to the Moon, just for the hell of it. Because even in this early age of science and uncovering the unbendable laws of nature, it was apparent that the imagination was one thing no science could contain. In fact, Cyrano’s book, it’s science that comes from the imagination: of the four ways he proposes to reach the Moon, one of them is a multi-stage rocket, not unlike the one that brought Apollo 11 to the Moon.
(I read the Lovell translation, nearly contemporary with Cyrano himself. This fact isn’t as well-known as it should be, but some of the best English writing in the Elizabethan era and the decades right after it comes from translators: Golding’s Metamorphoses, Urquhart’s Gargantua and Pantagruel, and John Florio’s translation of Montaigne, while not always sticking to the text like a modern translator would, are masterpieces of early modern English in their own right. But Lovell doesn’t quite rise to the level of his peers: his Voyage is alright, but I come to 17th century English for those lung-busting sentences that make you reach for a dictionary, and Lovell’s page-long sentences don’t have much rhythm or unctuous verbiage.
The other reason I read Lovell is that it was the only version I could get. Only a few English translations of Voyage to the Moon exist, several them quite bad according to the introduction of my edition, and nobody else has tried it for quite a long time. In fact, any copy of the book is hard to get a hold of, and the only digital versions are badly scanned and terribly formatted. Worst of all, an entire second book, Voyage to the Sun, exists—it was bundled with the Moon voyage back in the 17th century—but I can’t find it at all. Only glosses of it are available online, which is a shame, because it sounds fascinating: Cyrano goes to the Sun, where his guide is Tomas Campanella and they talk, among other things, about Descartes and his radical philosophy. So unless you can read Baroque French or have a particularly well-stocked library, bad copies of Lovell’s translation are the only Voyage at hand.
This is a shame. Voyage to the Moon isn’t a lost masterpiece or anything, but it holds a important position in the history of speculative fiction, and a delightful ode to the imagination. Hopefully, this long period of obscurity will pass, and translators and publishers can bring this book to the adoring audience it deserves.)
Before Apollo 13, before Star Trek, before H.G. Wells, there was Cyrano and his book, ostensibly a report from the author. His Voyage to the Moon, published in 1656, isn’t the first story on that theme (edged out by a mere 15 centuries by Lucian of Samosata’s A True History). And it’s far from the first fiction to treat fantastical, philosophical themes: Thomas More’s Utopia was almost century old when Cyrano was born, after all. But there was never quite a book like this, at least until Cyrano wrote one. His contribution to literature was to take a few ideas from current science and philosophy and write a fictional treatment about them. If a clockwork machine could produce sounds, why couldn’t we in theory build books that speak? This was quite literally science fiction, and wildly creative.
Although if Voyage to the Moon is science fiction, is science in the way that Cyrano would have understood it; that is, natural philosophy, that catch-all term for everything from astronomy to psychology and most of what we now just call philosophy, and a lot of magic besides. And quite a lot of early modern philosophy makes its way into Cyrano’s book: when our author is presented as an exotic animal in a Moon zoo, a delegation of Moon academics convenes to determine whether or not the hairless ape possesses self-awareness or is merely an automaton of senseless instinct. So we know that Cyrano read Descartes.
But this makes it sound like Cyrano is giving us a dry tour of What We Should Invent. Fortunately, this is a silly book, interesting not for its inventions but for its inventiveness. The Moon people are delightfully ridiculous, walking about on all fours and fretting over the souls of cabbages. They keep their houses on wheels so they can change the scenery, and attend their own funerals, which are joyous affairs. Here it helps to mention that Cyrano was a libertine; today, the word means little more than mindless hedonism, but in Cyrano’s time, it was anything but. Libertinism was about liberty: expanding all freedoms, not just for your genitals, but for your mind, too. They read Galileo (the first person to map the Moon, by the way). Much like the Epicureans a few millennia ago, the libertines were tarred with hedonism by their prudish rivals who, because it made better propaganda, focused more on the free love than the free thought. Although yes, on Cyrano’s Moon, virginity is illegal.
Not that this is pointless clowning. It is easy to forget, now that the battle is largely won and the Catholic Church has an astronomical observatory and a theological contingency plan for baptizing aliens, that there was a time when “free thought” wasn’t something Richard Dawkins used to harass Muslims; free thought, for the Powers That Be, was dangerous and suspicious, as history had shown; you let your guard down for a few minutes, and suddenly the northern half of Europe has left the Church, and they’re reading the Bible…in German! In light of this catastrophe, the response wasn’t restricted to atheists, vernacularists, or radical direct democracy advocates: the Catholic Church burned an Italian miller at the stake for propagating his theory that the universe is like a great wheel of cheese. Dear God! What books would he have written?!
Cyrano is for Menocchio’s party, not for the saliency of his views, but for the sheer fantasy of it. Clearly this was not a man bound by any orthodoxies. And Cyrano invents a fellow traveler to Menocchio in a Spaniard who lives on the Moon because, as he says: “The true reason which had obliged him to travel all over the Earth, and at length to abandon it for the Moon was that he could not find so much as one Country where even Imagination was at Liberty.” Certainly the Moon was one country where Cyrano might have published his book as he intended. Two endings exist for Voyage to the Moon: one that condemns the citizens of the Moon for arrogantly abandoning God; and one that praises “the People of that World, amongst whom even the meanest have Naturally so much Wit; whereas those of ours have so little, and yet so dearly bought.” Guess which version Cyrano had to circulate in his lifetime?
So you’ll see this book bandied about as a precursor to science fiction. And it is! But it wasn’t about any particular means of getting to the Moon—it was about inventing four routes to the Moon, just for the hell of it. Because even in this early age of science and uncovering the unbendable laws of nature, it was apparent that the imagination was one thing no science could contain. In fact, Cyrano’s book, it’s science that comes from the imagination: of the four ways he proposes to reach the Moon, one of them is a multi-stage rocket, not unlike the one that brought Apollo 11 to the Moon.
(I read the Lovell translation, nearly contemporary with Cyrano himself. This fact isn’t as well-known as it should be, but some of the best English writing in the Elizabethan era and the decades right after it comes from translators: Golding’s Metamorphoses, Urquhart’s Gargantua and Pantagruel, and John Florio’s translation of Montaigne, while not always sticking to the text like a modern translator would, are masterpieces of early modern English in their own right. But Lovell doesn’t quite rise to the level of his peers: his Voyage is alright, but I come to 17th century English for those lung-busting sentences that make you reach for a dictionary, and Lovell’s page-long sentences don’t have much rhythm or unctuous verbiage.
The other reason I read Lovell is that it was the only version I could get. Only a few English translations of Voyage to the Moon exist, several them quite bad according to the introduction of my edition, and nobody else has tried it for quite a long time. In fact, any copy of the book is hard to get a hold of, and the only digital versions are badly scanned and terribly formatted. Worst of all, an entire second book, Voyage to the Sun, exists—it was bundled with the Moon voyage back in the 17th century—but I can’t find it at all. Only glosses of it are available online, which is a shame, because it sounds fascinating: Cyrano goes to the Sun, where his guide is Tomas Campanella and they talk, among other things, about Descartes and his radical philosophy. So unless you can read Baroque French or have a particularly well-stocked library, bad copies of Lovell’s translation are the only Voyage at hand.
This is a shame. Voyage to the Moon isn’t a lost masterpiece or anything, but it holds a important position in the history of speculative fiction, and a delightful ode to the imagination. Hopefully, this long period of obscurity will pass, and translators and publishers can bring this book to the adoring audience it deserves.)
August 1, 2012
C'è un personaggio, uno su tutti, che nella letteratura "non recente" mi ha sempre affascinato ed intrigato.
Un uomo, un semplice uomo, ricco di doti: coraggio, lealtà, sagacia, arguzia, forza, umorismo, forza d'animo, onestà, intelligenza, cuore.
Non bellezza, quella no, e questo non sarebbe un problema, in linea di massima, se il suo cuore non ci si mettesse in mezzo.
E così costui, Guascone che non teme di scontrarsi con cento uomini armati di spada, moschettiere capace di spaventare un esercito con la sua semplice presenza, cadetto in grado di tenerne a bada altri mille con la propria fama, diventa un agnellino che trema al solo sguardo dell'amata e diviene il simbolo dell'amore romantico a tutti i costi, anche quando si tratta di permettere (ed anzi, far sì) che un bello ma povero di spirito rubi il cuore della sua agognata usando le sue stesse parole e (in uno dei momenti più famosi) la sua stessa voce come tramite.
Ogni pagina dell'opera trasuda umorismo e tragedia, romanticismo e coraggio, gioia e dolore, ogni pagina in cui Lui compare è un esempio di come un personaggio possa descriversi con le semplici parole ed azioni.
Ormai sarà chiaro a tutti o quasi che sto parlando di Cyrano De Bergerac, scritto da Edmon Rostand, una lettura consigliata a tutti coloro che non hanno paura di affezionarsi tanto ad un personaggio da lasciare scorrere una lacrima al termine del libro.
Tanti sono i momenti che vorrei citare, forse farei prima a copiare pari pari l'intero testo, ma c'è un momento che mi ha sempre fatto venire i brividi: alla fine del libro Rossana, che finalmente ha capito chi era il vero autore delle tante lettere, dice a Cyrano "Eravate Voi! Voi mi amavate! Voi" e questi le risponde "No, No, mio caro Amore, io non Vi ho mai amato!".
Brividi.
E lacrime.
Leggetelo, non ve ne pentirete.
PS: sì, lo so bene che il vero Cyrano non fu quello descritto da Rostand, ma lasciatemi sognare, grazie
Un uomo, un semplice uomo, ricco di doti: coraggio, lealtà, sagacia, arguzia, forza, umorismo, forza d'animo, onestà, intelligenza, cuore.
Non bellezza, quella no, e questo non sarebbe un problema, in linea di massima, se il suo cuore non ci si mettesse in mezzo.
E così costui, Guascone che non teme di scontrarsi con cento uomini armati di spada, moschettiere capace di spaventare un esercito con la sua semplice presenza, cadetto in grado di tenerne a bada altri mille con la propria fama, diventa un agnellino che trema al solo sguardo dell'amata e diviene il simbolo dell'amore romantico a tutti i costi, anche quando si tratta di permettere (ed anzi, far sì) che un bello ma povero di spirito rubi il cuore della sua agognata usando le sue stesse parole e (in uno dei momenti più famosi) la sua stessa voce come tramite.
Ogni pagina dell'opera trasuda umorismo e tragedia, romanticismo e coraggio, gioia e dolore, ogni pagina in cui Lui compare è un esempio di come un personaggio possa descriversi con le semplici parole ed azioni.
Ormai sarà chiaro a tutti o quasi che sto parlando di Cyrano De Bergerac, scritto da Edmon Rostand, una lettura consigliata a tutti coloro che non hanno paura di affezionarsi tanto ad un personaggio da lasciare scorrere una lacrima al termine del libro.
Tanti sono i momenti che vorrei citare, forse farei prima a copiare pari pari l'intero testo, ma c'è un momento che mi ha sempre fatto venire i brividi: alla fine del libro Rossana, che finalmente ha capito chi era il vero autore delle tante lettere, dice a Cyrano "Eravate Voi! Voi mi amavate! Voi" e questi le risponde "No, No, mio caro Amore, io non Vi ho mai amato!".
Brividi.
E lacrime.
Leggetelo, non ve ne pentirete.
PS: sì, lo so bene che il vero Cyrano non fu quello descritto da Rostand, ma lasciatemi sognare, grazie
April 18, 2018
Lähes neljäsataa vuotta vanha esiscifistinen kertomus, joka absurdissa mielikuvituksellisuudessaan on kyllä enemmän fantasiaa kuin scifiä. Kuuhun matkaaminen on puhtaasti etäännyttävä kirjallinen keino, jonka ansiosta kaikkea maanpäällistä elämänmenoa voidaan tarkastella kriittisesti ja kaikki voidaan kääntää ylösalaisin. Kuussa nimittäin suunnilleen kaikki tehdään eri tavalla kuin maassa, uskontoa, uskomuksia ja perinnäistapoja myöten. Kuriositeettina mainittakoon esimerkiksi, että kuussa kuunnellaan mekaanisia äänikirjoja eikä siellä ole lainkaan paperisia, silmin luettavia kirjoja.
Ja tässä asioiden juuriaan myöten tonkimisessa tämä kirja tuntuukin hämmästyttävän modernilta, vaikka on lähes neljänsadan vuoden takaa. Aivan samoista asioista sitä näsäviisastellaan edelleenkin, ja vieläpä osin samoilla argumenteillakin. Ehkä voisikin sanoa, että kirja itsessään ei ollut aikaansa edellä, vaan monet nykymaailmamme osaset ovat pahasti ajastaan jäljessä.
Mutta yhdessä suhteessa kuun elämänmeno osoittaa, mitkä olivat mielikuvituksen rajat 1600-luvulla. Suunnilleen kaikki muut ihmissuhteet on käännetty päälaelleen (isät kunnioittavat poikiaan ja pojat rankaisevat isiään, aateliset eivät kanna miekkoja vaan falloskoruja, rauhallinen kuolema on rangaistus ja elävältä syödyksi tuleminen on suuri kunnianosoitus, jne.), mutta miehen ja naisen asema nähdään järkkymättä samanlaisena kuin maassa, tai siis tarkemmin sanottuna nainen on kuussakin alempi olento ja vain mies on oikeastaan ihminen. Tästä käsityksestä sentään on jo päästy eteenpäin.
Ja tässä asioiden juuriaan myöten tonkimisessa tämä kirja tuntuukin hämmästyttävän modernilta, vaikka on lähes neljänsadan vuoden takaa. Aivan samoista asioista sitä näsäviisastellaan edelleenkin, ja vieläpä osin samoilla argumenteillakin. Ehkä voisikin sanoa, että kirja itsessään ei ollut aikaansa edellä, vaan monet nykymaailmamme osaset ovat pahasti ajastaan jäljessä.
Mutta yhdessä suhteessa kuun elämänmeno osoittaa, mitkä olivat mielikuvituksen rajat 1600-luvulla. Suunnilleen kaikki muut ihmissuhteet on käännetty päälaelleen (isät kunnioittavat poikiaan ja pojat rankaisevat isiään, aateliset eivät kanna miekkoja vaan falloskoruja, rauhallinen kuolema on rangaistus ja elävältä syödyksi tuleminen on suuri kunnianosoitus, jne.), mutta miehen ja naisen asema nähdään järkkymättä samanlaisena kuin maassa, tai siis tarkemmin sanottuna nainen on kuussakin alempi olento ja vain mies on oikeastaan ihminen. Tästä käsityksestä sentään on jo päästy eteenpäin.
March 16, 2015
Kuussa nelijalkaiset ihmiset sivistävät itseään kuuntelemalla äänikirjoja pikkulapsesta saakka. Neitsyydestä rangaistaan ja filosofeille taataan hyvä kuolema eutanasian avulla. Sivistyneitä nuorukaisia arvostetaan enemmän kuin vanhuksia, koska nuorilla ajatus lentää kirkkaasti radikaaleja uria.
Luonnollisesti 1600-luvulla Jumalan olemassaolon kieltämisestä, kannibalismista ja kahden miespuolisen kaksijalkaisen "apinan" keskinäisistä lisääntymispuuhista tarinoinut kirjailija joutui lopussa julistamaan, että ilmankos näin turmiollinen porukka asuikin kuussa.
Jos nyt jotain moitin, romaani olisi saanut olla selkeämmin rakennettu. Isä "Sokrateen daimoni" ja poika menivät paikoitellen sekaisin, kun olennaisesti esittäytyivät paljolti vain filosofisen dialogin kautta. Joka tapauksessa ehdottomasti lukemisen arvoinen teos!
Luonnollisesti 1600-luvulla Jumalan olemassaolon kieltämisestä, kannibalismista ja kahden miespuolisen kaksijalkaisen "apinan" keskinäisistä lisääntymispuuhista tarinoinut kirjailija joutui lopussa julistamaan, että ilmankos näin turmiollinen porukka asuikin kuussa.
Jos nyt jotain moitin, romaani olisi saanut olla selkeämmin rakennettu. Isä "Sokrateen daimoni" ja poika menivät paikoitellen sekaisin, kun olennaisesti esittäytyivät paljolti vain filosofisen dialogin kautta. Joka tapauksessa ehdottomasti lukemisen arvoinen teos!
June 6, 2015
While in no way sorry I read this book, I have to say that I just didn't understand most of it. The philosophical questions of life have never been something I spent any time on and this book is just a reason to present arguments that, for the most part, I don't have any interest in.
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